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in memoriam Chloé Graftiaux. July 18,1987 - August 21, 2010

udini@udini.de (Udini) — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:52:05 +0000

Yesterday Chloé Graftiaux died in the mountains. Late last night I finished this short clip about route setting during the 2010 Boulder World Cup with interviews of all the top competitors and was struck what a inspiring and spirited person #3 ranked Chloé is when I learned today about her tragic accident. The reason for the video, "route setting" is trivial by now of course, but it gives a glimpse of what a great human being Chloé was. Very sad!

Boulder WC 2010 report #7 - Munich

udini@udini.de (Udini) — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:48:38 +0000

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The Bouldering World Cup 2010 stayed gripping up to the last problem! Munich's '72 Olympic stadium provided a worthy location for the final event. Of all the potential winners, only Chloé Graftiaux dropped the ball and didn't make it to the finals. In the finals Akiyo Noguchi won by the narrowest margin possible - Anna Stöhr needed one more try for the only problem the girls could climb in the finals.

Route setting was very "russian style" as many competitors put it, meaning rather rock like moves on bad holds, what tends to favor either, well, russians or … rock climbers. Since Adam Ondra is the best rock climber in the world right now It was no surprise than that he won the event and with it the overall Boulder World Cup 2010.

As usual you can check out the results here. We rather let the (moving) pictures do the talking, so watch our clip below and stay tuned for our route setting survey video among the top competitors here very soon! For our reports of the 6 previous Boulder World Cups please read on ...

Petrohradské PADání 2010

udini@udini.de (Udini) — Thu, 06 May 2010 07:49:29 +0000

The Petrohradské PADání 2010 again was a wonderful event! Taking place in the newly developed "Mlynsky Vrch" area we also the had the weather gods on our side. Some complained that it was too hot, but this didn't keep Adam Ondra from doing the FA of "Stix, sd", 8B+ and three 8Bs as well as several 8As over the weekend! Also starring two times lead world champion Tomáš Mrázek...
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above: Adam Ondra, first ascent of "Stix, sd", read on for our reports of the 2006 and 2009 PADanis...

Basque bouldering

udini@udini.de (Udini) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:06:39 +0000

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Being a wimp, I couldn't quite get myself to paddle around in the freezing waters of our beloved Brittany for the first surf trip of the season. Instead we opted for the Côte des basques, the birth place of European surfing. Unfortunately (no, not really ;-) the surf was pretty good, so we just visited two of the many high quality bouldering areas of the region. Let me tell you, Laxia and Jaizkibel are incredible! Check out the pics for now and stay tuned for more soon ...

Lizenz zum Bouldern

udini@udini.de (Udini) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:50:21 +0000

oben: Lizenz zum Bouldern, making of ...

Lizenz zum Bouldern ist fertig und kann ab sofort im Buchhandel (ISBN: 9783980480956) oder hier erworben werden!

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oben: Besprechungen von Lizenz zum Bouldern, auf der nächsten Seite kann du dir einige Seiten anschauen ...

Hard Moves Boulder League

udini@udini.de (Udini) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:13:58 +0000

Fantastisches Finale der HardMoves 2010 in den Wupperwänden!

Climbing WC 2009 roundup

udini@udini.de (Udini) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:23:16 +0000
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It has been a while since the rock climbing world and the competition scene could agree on one champion. In 2009 Adam Ondra climbed the most not only hard but also diverse rock routes and won the World Cup. There is nothing super human or magical about Adam, he just brings, for the time being, the most complete climbing skill set to the table.

It is the nature of human progress that we learn. By watching the clips posted here and elsewhere, we will learn about climbing and therefore improve. Somewhere in the world a talented girl or boy, say 12 years old, who watches Adam, Johanna, Chris and all the other great climbers of our time, will be a far better climber in five years time than those guys ever could be!
So read on, watch those clips, watch them again, discuss them - we will keep on making them, for the future of climbing!

die PROGRESSION DVD kann mehr!

udini@udini.de (Udini) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:33:00 +0000

Progression ist eine "abendfüllende" (so nennt man Filme mit Kinolänge von etwa 90min.) und packende Dokumentation über das Klettern auf höchstem Niveau. Heute ist endlich, mit einiger Verspätung die Progression DVD bei uns eingetrudelt. Nachdem man den Hauptfilm schon seit einiger Zeit bei BigUp 'runterladen kann, stellt sich natürlich die Frage, ob sich der Kauf der DVD überhaupt lohnt. Wir finden schon, denn viele Aspekte, die im Film aus dramaturgischen Gründen nur angerissen werden können, werden im Bonusmaterial sehr interessant vertieft. Man könnte auch böse sagen, der Hauptfilm wäre die mainstreamige Version des Bonusmaterials. Was bekommt man also für sein Geld?
Bouldern in Südafrikas Rocklands. (gut 20min.), Sportklettern in Oliana (gut 7min.), El Cap Bigwall Hintergründe mit Tommi Caldwell in der Technoroute "Magic Mushroom"(knapp 15min.), eine Dokumentation über den Leadworldcup in Puurs 2008 (knapp 6min.), gut 4 Minuten Headpoint / clean climbing äktschn in Colorado, ein viereinhalb Adam Ondra Portrait in Spanien, der "This is the season" clip über Indian Summer Bouldern in New York State, knapp acht Minuten tolle Probleme in Bishop, eine DWS Bootserkundungsfahrt mit Chris Sharma auf dem Colorado bzw. am Hoover Damm und schließlich knapp sechs Minuten Hintergründe zum Klettern im britischen Grit. Wie aufwändig inzwischen Kletterfilmproduktionen wie Progression geworden sind, erkennt man auch daran, das nichts vom Trip nach China zu sehen ist. Ein Kamerateam mit Chris Sharma nach China zu schicken und dann nichts von dem verwerten zu können (aus welchen Gründen auch immer) muß weh tun. Das "Bonusmaterial" auf der Progression DVD ist trotzdem hochinteressant und besser produziert als die allermeisten Kletterfilme! Beeindruckend, wie ambitioniert Big Up Kletterfilme produziert! Hier gibts die Progression DVD in unserem Shop...

Adam Ondra climbing lesson at Puurs!

udini@udini.de (Udini) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:20:07 +0000
An alert mind that allows for quick descision making. Check! A huge repertoire of movements from lots of hard climbing already in the age of sixteen. Check! A body that won't hold you back. Check!
Voilà, now you can virtually run through the notoriously overhanging Puurs competition wall! Demonstrated by Adam Ondra winning the IFSC Climbing Worldcup in Belgium Saturday night!
His style is so efficient that we foresee that in the future everybody has to climb like Adam! The videos below let you compare the top 3 climbers of the men's finals and the women's superfinals (due to poor route setting in the finals, more about that later) to analyze their different styles. The indisputed winner Johanna Ernst for example climbs faster and apparently effortless through those endurance monsters, from the qualification routes to the superfinals. Check out the complete results here ...

note: the videos below are again of very high HD quality and need a fast connection and computer. If you experience problems watching them, please watch them on our our youtube channel instead!
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BAZ! - Bouldering @ the Sea

udini@udini.de (Udini) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:38:50 +0000
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The BAZ! team managed to pull off another great event with the fourth incarnation of "Boulderen An Zee" at Scheveningen Beach. Even more climbers, better conditions (at least for bouldering, sun bathers were shivering) and the incredible atmosphere when the sun sets and the finals start... Stay tuned for more soon!
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above: Planet BAZ! Friday, 20:00 CET, 14h to go before the comp starts. (If you are interested in what it takes to pull off such an event, check out the BAZ! blog.)

The BAZ! 2008 has been the best climbing related event I've ever been to! Around 700 climbers from all over the world met to climb on 200 carefully crafted problems, the best youngsters and adults made it into the enthralling finals that took place in front of a magical sunset (these guys are friends with all weathergods too!). Everything was top notch at the BAZ! 2008, with the help of more than 100 volunteers (!!!), they built 3 huge "boulders" and the final stage. They had DJ's, live music,impressive light, good food and some of the best route setting by any standard.

That all this can happen in a country without any rock doesn't come as a surprise, without any significant alpine tradition, the Dutch developed a very modern approach to climbing. They have some of the best climbers in the world, the biggest Fontainebleau site (and the nicest Bleau guide) and now:

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above: birds eye view of the BAZ! site, thurday, 28.08.08, -44h till lift off

THE BIGGEST BOULDERING EVENT ON MAN MADE WALLS!!!

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I could go on and on with how amazing the BAZ! was, for now I want to share some videograbs from the footage we shot.

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BAZ! 2008 RESULTS:

Ferdinand Schulte (NED) Muriel Sarkany (BEL)

Jonas Baumann (GER)
Cloé Graftiaux (BEL)

Ludovic Laurence (FRA) Vera Zijlstra (NED)

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The BAZ! 2008 has been the best climbing related event I've ever been to and so the documentary about it became almost 35 minutes long. The first part tells you the logistics of such a huge event and gives some impressions of the open contest. The second part is about the finals with lots of split screens to compare climbers and some incredible fisheye close-up footage.
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Ferdinand Schulte (NED)	Muriel Sarkany (BEL)
Jonas Baumann (GER)	Cloé Graftiaux (BEL)
Ludovic Laurence (FRA)	Vera Zijlstra (NED)